AFL makes pledge to fund drug rehabilitation for Ben Cousins

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has offered to bankroll a drug rehabilitation program for fallen star Ben Cousins in an unprecedented display of solidarity.

EXCLUSIVE

THE AFL has made an unprecedented pledge to fund a drug rehabilitation program for fallen Brownlow Medallist Ben Cousins.

A rollcall of influential and business figures have lined up to offer help to Cousins, who revealed he is “living out of a backpack” this week in an interview with News Corp.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has told Cousins’ father the AFL would bankroll any anti-drug program or rehab facility which helped drag the 38-year-old out of his downward spiral.

McLachlan refused to comment on the conversation last night but it is understood the AFL believes it has an obligation to help one of its greatest stars.

That offer was made several months ago by McLachlan directly to Bryan Cousins and remains open-ended.

But the challenge remains in convincing him to attend a rehab facility given he has quickly relapsed after trips to rehabilitation centres in the past.

“The AFL has made clear they are there to help Ben, and if he can get to rehab they have said they have put aside money to support him,” a source close to the family said.

Kim Ledger, the father of the late actor Heath, said he has also reached out to the Cousins family in the battle to save Ben.

Ben Cousins has confessed he’s living out of a backpack and has lost five investment properties. Picture: Danella Bevis The West Australian

A decade after helping lead the West Coast Eagles to a premiership, Cousins has spiralled into drug addiction and lost most of his fortune, including five properties.

Concerns have been building for Cousins, who spent two nights in custody this week for breaching a domestic violence order held by his ex partner.

He is due to face court again next week on separate charges, and told Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday that he believed he could spend Christmas in jail.

Cousins’ father, a former Geelong rover, has dedicated much of the past decade to helping his oldest son, who has admitted to regularly using drugs including ice, cocaine and pills.

Cousins’ battle with drugs has been widely publicised and he spoke at length about his drug use in his 2010 autobiography and a documentary in the same year.

“We have been trying to support the family all the way through, because they are friends of ours,” Kim Ledger told News Corp.

“At one point Heath tried to help Ben by getting him over to a clinic over that way, he was trying to encourage him to go a particular clinic, but that didn’t eventuate.”

Kim Ledger says he’s been trying to support Ben Cousins’ family throughout his drug addiction. Picture: News Limited

A younger Ben Cousins arriving at Heath Ledger’s funeral. Picture: News Limited

Ledger, who works with Perth drug treatment centre Cyrenian House, said the Cousins family were struggling with their son’s addiction.

“It’s often the families surrounding these issues that need more support than the victims,” he said.

“Any addiction is a disease and you have to feel compassion for the individuals that are caught with it, but they need to make a decision to go down a pathway to repatriate themselves, because at the end of the day no matter what you do, the final decision rests with the individual. It’s such a hard, hard situation and I empathise with all families that are caught with it.”

The AFL deregistered Cousins for bringing the game into disrepute in 2007 before he was allowed to return to the game in a two-year stint at Richmond.

The league was criticised this year by West Coast powerbrokers for failing to help the Eagles deal with the drug problems of players during the mid-2000s.

Yet all the offers of help and funding from the AFL and family can only help if Cousins decides to accept them.

The league’s player union has a hardship fund it uses to help the surgeries of past players in need.

The AFL’s own offer of help remains unusual but few players have soared to such highs before plunging to the depths of Cousins.